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Old December 13th 07, 09:55 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
Mike M
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 2,047
Default Me hangs at detecting hardware

Ocean wrote:

While trying to install Me on a Gateway solo 2500. I have tried
everything offered from Microsoft on this issue. Perhaps there is
someone out there that knows a trick or two.


Is this a clean install or are you reinstalling Win Me over itself? If
the latter I very much hope that you first uninstalled IE6 and WMP9 (if
installed), if not you probably have much bigger problems in store than
this one. Do you have any Symantec crudware installed?

Check your windows\inf folder (a hidden system folder and you will have to
enable the viewing of such files and folders in Explorer (Tools | Folder
Options | View and check "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide
protected operating system files") and look for large numbers of oem*.inf
files that are all 0 bytes in size. If you've got thousands of such files
this is the cause of your problem as you're probably at the limit of the
number of entries that can be entered in a FAT folder and therefore cannot
add any inf file associated with the update. Delete these 0 byte oem*.inf
files.

Why has this happened? Do you have Norton's System Doctor installed and
perhaps forget to disable System Doctor before updating your system from
the Windows Update site? If you don't delete these files some software
and most hardware and driver installs will take a very long time to
complete if they complete at all.

For more details see the Symantec site:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT...15010309&src=n
and also MS KB 281967 - "Computer Stops Responding (Hangs) During Setup,
Installing Updates, or Adding New Hardware"
(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=281967). Sadly since Win Me is long
out of support your chances of obtaining a copy of the new ifsmgr.vxd
v4.90.3003 by calling Microsoft is highly unlikely. Alternatively dump
the Witch Doctor, it's simply not worth the trouble it causes.
--
Mike Maltby